V i r g i n i a C o m m o n w e a l t h U n i v e r s i t y

The Campaign forVCU

Spring 2007

Power of Personal Philanthropywww.vcu.edu/campaign

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Editor: Melanie Irvin Solaimani (B.S. ’96), misolaimani@vcu.edu, (804) 828-3975Writer: Ashley E. Baugh (B.S. ’07), baughae@vcu.edu

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Inside this issueAdcenter chief proves his passion for the program 3New Hunton Student Center meets the challenge 5Gift builds on Rice Center educational mission 6New staff members join VCU development team 7Golf scholarship offers benefits for donors, too 8Center combines partners, purpose and passion 10In other giving news . . . 11Dinner honors donors to Trani Scholars program 12Did you know … 12Rams give fans a 2006-07 season to remember 13 13

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✫ see Adcenter, continued on Page 4

Rick Boyko, managing director of VCU’s Adcenter, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony at the historic Central Belting building.

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Adcenter chief proves his passion for the programRick Boyko sees Virginia Commonwealth University’s Adcenter as more than just

a place to work. To him, the Adcenter holds the keys to the future of the advertising industry. To show how much they believe in its promise, Boyko and his wife, Barb, have pledged $1 million to the school.

“Advertising is a young people’s business and is at the forefront of today’s culture. Because a current era is best represented in advertising, we need to keep it alive and staying in business,” said Boyko, who is managing director of the Adcenter, VCU’s graduate advertising program.

He hopes that this gift will spur others to understand the importance of giving back.

The Boykos’ gift, made in December 2006, launched the three-year, $10 million Campaign for the VCU Adcenter. The money raised will help build a permanent endowment, which will fund facilities improvements, student scholarships, faculty professorships and programmatic initiatives.

On March 23, work began to renovate the Central Belting, Hose and Rubber Co. building, which originally served as the carriage house for The Jefferson Hotel, into a new home for the Adcenter. The building was donated by Dianne and C. Kenneth Wright to the School of Engineering Foundation and purchased by the university from the foundation.

When Boyko, who served as chief creative officer and co-president of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and held other top positions with some of the biggest names in the advertising business, moved to Richmond in 2003 to head up the Adcenter, he kept his eye on the Belting building, knowing it would be a great space for the program.

The building is unique architecturally, he said, explaining that “the more interest-ing the place, the more interesting the clients.”

“Advertising is a young people’s business and is at the forefront of today’s culture. Because a current era is best represented in advertising, we need to keep it alive and staying in business.” – Rick Boyko,

managing director, VCU Adcenter

The new space will also give the Adcenter program about 30 percent more room than its current home in Shockoe Slip. The 29,551-square-foot building will include a 7,000-square-foot modern addition.

The improvement in the atmosphere will be immeasurable, Boyko said, explaining that the Adcenter’s current home is a dark space with lengthy hallways that is quickly cramping the program’s style.

The new Adcenter space will be fundamentally different from any building the uni-versity has ever seen, a place that will spark imaginative and creative thinking, Boyko said. Contemporary style and texture, color and lots of open space are all part of the plan. The faculty offices won’t have walls.

“Open space generates creativity and forces people to collaborate on their work, which is crucial to advertising. We really want the facility to be the star,” Boyko said.

Boyko knew one architect in particular he wanted to work on the Adcenter project — Clive Wilkinson, who has designed workspaces for companies such as Google and Mattel.

“I worked with Clive before on a redesign project at Ogilvy and got to know him and his work. When I told VCU what the new Adcenter needed to look like, I knew Clive could give me the kind of space and architecture it needed,” Boyko said.

Boyko hopes that the new building will serve as a recruitment tool to attract and retain the best in advertising, both faculty and students. He also said that he would ideally like to expand the program from 170 to 190 students, a number that the current facility could not support.

The new, larger space, Boyko believes, will further the Adcenter’s reputation as a top-notch advertising school — the school was rated No. 1 by Creativity magazine — but also hopes his gift will encourage others to give back to the advertising industry by sup-porting advertising education.

“We currently have only five classrooms to support 170 students,” said Beth Harrington, senior development director for the Adcenter. “We are growing out of that space fast.”

To make a gift to the Campaign for the VCU Adcenter, contact Beth Harrington, senior director of devel-opment, at (804) 828-8384 or ekharrington@vcu.edu

Adcenter, continued from Page 3

The VCU Adcenter’s new home, a historic building in the shadow of The Jefferson Hotel, will encompass more than 29,000 square feet.

• 227: Cumulativeyearsofexperienceintheadvertisingbusinessamongthe11Adcenterfacultymembers

• 4: Numberoftracksofstudy(artdirec-tion,copywriting,brandmanagementandcommunicationsstrategy)

• 170: NumberofstudentsenrolledattheAdcenter

• 38: Percentageofstudentsintheclassof2008whoareminorities

• 25.5: AverageageofanAdcenterstudent

• 2: NumberofAdcenterteamsthatadvancedtothefinalsoflastyear’sInnovationChallengecompetitionamongmorethan400M.B.A.teams

• 11: NumberofyearsatcurrenthomeonEastMainStreetinShockoeSlip

• 29,551: SquarefeetinnewAdcenterspace,includingshowers(incasestudentscan’tmakeithomebeforeclassthenextmorning),aflat-screenTVforvideogames,andfoosballandpingpongtables

• 140: Numberofseatsatthe“commu-nitytable”inthenewbuilding

• 45: Numberofcomputersinthenewlab,whichalsofeatures15video-editingcomputersandaprofessionaleditingroom

Adcenter by the numbers

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New Hunton Student Center meets the challengeIn late 2004, Virginia Commonwealth University President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.,

challenged MCV Alumni Association board members to help educate students about the rich history of the MCV Campus. He recounted a story about asking MCV Campus Student Government Association student representatives if they knew the name Dr. David Hume.

Hume, chairman of the Department of Surgery from 1956 to 1973, was a leader within the VCU community who developed a transplantation program. When Dr. Trani told the alumni board members that few of the students knew Hume’s name, they were stunned and wanted to help facilitate a change.

The members realized they had the opportunity to do that when the association was asked to help renovate Hunton Hall, a former MCV student union.

The group had just completed a planning retreat identifying the need to be more involved in improving students’ academic life.

“Contributing to the Hunton Student Center renovation was a perfect fit for that goal,” said George W. Burke III (M.D. ’70), president of the MCV Alumni Association of VCU.

The $6 million renovation of the Hunton building began in 2005 and was sup-ported by generous contributions from the MCV Alumni Association and the MCV Foundation. Working with Tompkins-McCaw Library archivist Jodi Koste and the Hunton Commemorative Committee, association members found a way to educate current and future students about the heritage of the MCV Campus.

A permanent history exhibit, pushed for by the board and displayed on the outside wall of the VCU Libraries Learning Center in Hunton, was unveiled during a Jan. 24 dedication ceremony.

Hundreds of students, alumni, faculty and staff listened to remarks by Dr. Trani and Dr. Sheldon Retchin, CEO of the VCU Health System and VCU vice president for Health Sciences, among others.

“The Hunton Student Center is a special place for VCU — a unique and historical building. The renovations have brought new life to this facility while preserving our greatness as an institution,” Dr. Trani said.

The center serves as the much-needed student commons for the MCV Campus and includes a gourmet café and a billiards room. It also houses offices for Student Affairs and student government staff.

“With this renovation, the MCV Campus student body will not only be able to bet-ter appreciate the historical aspects of this building, dating back to the 1800s, but also we’ll be able to share in the historical moments of VCU itself with the hard work put into the displayed panels,” said Michelle Pohoreskey, president of the MCV Campus Student Government Association, after the event.

To learn more about the MCV Alumni Association of VCU, contact Barbara Payton, executive director, at (804) 828-3900 or bpayton@vcu.edu.

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The historical timeline panels educate current and future students about the heritage of the MCV Campus.

6 | The Power of Personal Philanthropy

Gift builds on Rice Center educational missionIn yet another show of her generosity and commitment to the mission of

the Virginia Commonwealth University Inger and Walter Rice Center for Environmental Studies, Inger Rice has donated $2 million for the construction of an educational headquarters at the site.

“Inger Rice continues to be a great friend to Virginia Commonwealth University,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., who, in recognition of this gift, has added a pledge of $500,000 from the university.

The 6,000-square-foot building will be used for hands-on science education for VCU students, as well as students from surrounding school districts, and will provide a resource room/meeting space for researchers and teachers. Construction of this LEED-certified building is set to begin this spring, with a target completion date of spring 2008.

“The education building is essential to help the VCU Rice Center reach its full potential as an education and research facility,” Rice said.

In 2000, Rice donated the 343 acres along the James River in Charles City County for its present use as an environmental research and education center.

Since that time, multiple outreach programs have been developed offering hands-on experiences in the life sciences to more than 1,000 Virginia schoolchil-dren, and hundreds of teachers from throughout the country have attended week-long teacher-training sessions during the summer. VCU students in 16 different courses work at the site on a regular basis, and multiple ongoing research projects have been initiated, all with a research pier as the only infrastructure.

“Clearly, with all this activity, the need for an educational headquarters to house these growing programs had become critical,” said Catherine Dahl, director of development and special projects for the VCU Rice Center. “With this gift, Mrs. Rice has personally ensured that even more students, teachers and researchers will benefit from the invaluable natural resources that this beautiful site has to offer and that they will be able to take their observations and collected data immediately to an on-site facility for further laboratory analysis.

“Mrs. Rice’s commitment to VCU and her understanding of the need to educate future generations, as to the fragility and complexity of the natural world around us, is inspirational.”

To make a gift to VCU Life Sciences, contact Catherine Dahl, director of development and special projects, at (804) 827-7372 or ccdahl@vcu.edu.

Inger Rice’s most recent gift is funding the construction of an educational headquarters at the VCU Rice Center.

6 | The Power of Personal Philanthropy

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New staff members join VCU development teamScott BrownExecutive Director of Development MCV Hospitals, VCU Health System(804) 828-4100sbrown11@mcvh-vcu.edu

Formerly director of development, Shenandoah Memorial Hospital

Beth CoakleyAssociate Director of DevelopmentSchool of the Arts(804) 828-0129coakleyet@vcu.edu

Formerly assistant director of research and donor relations at Randolph-Macon College

Lauren FendDevelopment AssociateSchool of the Arts(804) 828-8225lfend@vcu.edu

Formerly communications assistant, University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs

Audrey K. ThomsonDirector of DevelopmentSchool of Mass Communications(804) 827-3761akthomson@vcu.edu

Formerly director of donor relations, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond

Joy SandersSenior Development OfficerSchool of Medicine (804) 828-4800ajsanders@vcu.edu

Formerly major gift officer, University of Kentucky

Scott SeculesSenior Associate Athletic Director for External AffairsVCU Athletics(804) 828-7474ssecules@vcu.edu

Formerly senior associate athletic director for external affairs, Southern Methodist University

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Golf scholarship offers benefits for donors, tooWhen Will and Betsy Cutler decided to endow a scholarship for the Virginia

Commonwealth University Golf Program in 2006, they knew that making the $100,000 gift would help them enjoy their passions in life — golf and college athlet-ics in general. The pair is now taking pleasure in reaping many other rewards from making that gift.

As alumni of Virginia Tech and VCU, respectively, Will and Betsy wanted to give back to their alma maters by donating to athletics funds at both universities. At Virginia Tech, the couple established an endowed scholarship, but the money eventually was funneled to funding for the Lane Stadium west side expansion because football scholarships were already topped out. At VCU, they saw their endowed scholarship evolve differently.

“We decided to endow a scholarship at VCU because it is a more personal form of giving,” Will said. “When donating to a stadium or building fund, you are not as involved in the giving process. Endowing a scholarship really enables you to see the product of your gift in another person.”

Betsy agreed that the personal connection is so important.“We will enjoy getting to know the recipients of our scholarship and are excited

that we get to meet new recipients every four years,” she said.The Cutlers have gotten to know Lanto Griffin, the current recipient of the Cutler

Scholarship for the VCU Golf Program, quite well. Griffin, a freshman who plans to major in marketing, grew up in Blacksburg, Va., where the couple has friends and owns a home. He also plays golf at the Blacksburg Country Club, where the Cutlers are members.

The Cutlers said they enjoy watching Griffin play golf and attend as many VCU golf tournaments as they can. Griffin and VCU golf coach Matt Ball update the Cutlers on Griffin’s performance at the tournaments the couple misses, and they often check up on him as well.

“I have the Cutlers’ [phone number] in my cell phone, and I told them that if they ever needed a baby sitter that I would be happy to help them out,” Griffin said.

Griffin has played in every tournament this season and has had three top-five fin-ishes so far. The scholarship has helped him succeed because he can concentrate on his academics and playing golf, rather than worrying about student loans, he said.

8 | The Power of Personal Philanthropy

Endowing a scholarship for the VCU Golf Program allows Will and Betsy Cutler to see how their gift benefits others.

ThisinauguraltournamenthasbeendesignedtosupporttheVCUmen’sgolfteamandtopromoteVCUpridewithintheRichmondcommunity,saidBetsyCutler,whoservesontheorganizingcommittee.

When:1p.m.July16,2007,withashotgunstart(registrationbeginsat11:30a.m.)

Where:MeadowbrookCountryClub,3700CogbillRoad,Richmond

Cost:$100perplayer(includesgreensfee,lunch,receptionandVCUgiftpackage)

To register or for sponsorship information: ContactAndrewHartleyat(804)828-1726oraphartle@vcu.edu,orMikeEllisat(804)828-1278ormwellis@vcu.edu

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“The Cutlers’ scholarship is really special to me because of that fact that I worked very hard to earn a golf scholarship. If I did not have the Cutlers’ scholarship then I would be taking out huge student loans and that would put a lot of stress on my family,” Griffin said.

To the Cutlers, one of the greatest benefits is the recognition and friendship VCU has offered. In addition to thank-you letters, the Cutlers said they receive phone calls and invitations from coach Ball to play their favorite sport — golf, of course. In addition to those invites, the pair is also asked to attend many donor and university events, such as an annual scholarship dinner.

“Attending donor events and functions at VCU is a great way for us to meet other donors and make lifelong friends through the process of giving,” Betsy said. “[Giving] is a win-win situation all the way around.”

The Cutlers are pleased that they are making such a difference in stu-dents’ lives.

“We hope we can give potential students the oppor-tunity to come to VCU, without bills and debt, and play the sport of their choice while focus-ing on academics,” Betsy said.

Every four years, a new recipient, chosen by the golf coach, will be awarded the Cutler Scholarship, based on their golf performance, their character and their promise as an athlete at VCU. When selecting a scholarship winner, Ball said he tries to make the best possible fit between the donor and the recipient.

“Lanto and the Cutlers had some contact before the year started, so I felt that awarding Lanto the scholarship would be some common ground for them to talk about,” Ball said.

Betsy also offered some advice to potential donors about endowing a scholarship.“[They] need to understand that giving is not only a great benefit in helping per-

sonally, but giving back to a larger cause.”To make a gift to VCU Athletics, contact Scott Secules, senior associate athletic director

for external affairs, at (804) 828-7474 or ssecules@vcu.edu, or Andrew Hartley, assistant athletic director for ticketing and annual giving, at (804) 828-1726 or aphartle@vcu.edu.

VCU Black & Gold Golf Classic

Betsy Cutler’s loyalty to the Rams extends beyond the golf team. Cutler (center) showed her Rams spirit at VCU Alumni Association watch party at Bandito’s when VCU took on Duke University in the first round of the NCAA tournament. She cele-brated her alma mater’s win with fellow alumnae Barb Pagels (left) and Lisa Ellwood.

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Center combines partners, purpose and passionTennis great James Blake has fond memories of Virginia Commonwealth University.

As the No. 1-ranked collegiate player, Blake and his Harvard teammates beat perennial tennis powerhouse VCU in 1999.

Remembering that major accomplishment, and how far he’s traveled since, left Blake laughing in early December when he returned to VCU to help break ground for a new youth center on campus. He was joined by eight-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi and his wife, tennis hall-of-famer Steffi Graf, and three-time Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport.

The Mary and Frances Youth Center, to be built at the corner of Cary and Cherry streets, initially will be home to the Lobs & Lessons program but eventually will house programs as well as provide a place for at-risk youths to receive academic, mentoring and life-skills training. A private $1.5 million gift from Michael Fraizer, chairman and CEO of Genworth Financial Inc., and his wife, Elizabeth, is funding the center.

The groundbreaking event for the center represented the power that combining partners, purpose and passion can create, Michael Fraizer said.

“When you get up every day, you have an opportunity to make a difference. One great way to do that is to stand for youth — to give them a chance to succeed,” he said.

The center is named in honor of the Fraizers’ mothers, Mary Fraizer and Frances Royer. The women both had a pas-sion for volunteerism and were com-mitted to philanthropy.

At the event, VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., cited the power of partnerships and purpose.

“Genworth Financial has been a wonderful partner in developing the Lobs & Lessons program, and because of this partnership, we’ve already touched hundreds of children in the short three years that the program has been in operation,” Dr. Trani said. “At the same time, we saw the need for a real platform for expanded youth

programs and a permanent home for Lobs & Lessons, and Mike and Elizabeth’s involve-ment and personal gift will help make this happen.

Youth from Lobs & Lessons pose with VIPs at the groundbreaking ceremony. Back row, from left: Michael and Elizabeth Fraizer, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., James Blake, Lindsay Davenport and Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder.

The 5,400-square-foot youth center building will include classrooms, a computer lab and space for instruction and tutoring. The grounds will feature a basketball court and a hard-surface tennis court.

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10 | The Power of Personal Philanthropy

In other giving news …• In January, Dominion committed $1.5 million to Virginia Commonwealth

University, bringing the company’s total campaign giving to the schools of Business and Engineering to $2 million. The money will be split evenly and is designated for the two schools’ campaigns.

• Many alumni in the School of Allied Health Professions’ Department ofHealthAdministration joined the effort led by TimothyStack (M.H.A. ’77) and HowardKern (M.H.A. ’81) to establish the Charles P. Cardwell, Jr., Professorship in Health Administration. Cardwell was the founder and director of what was known as the School of Hospital Administration. As the head administrator of the MCV Hospital in 1949, he foresaw the need for graduate training in health administration, a profession that had become complicated after World War II with increased medical specialization, clinical advances and heightened complexity of health care delivery. The first class graduated in 1951, and the rest is history: the formation of one of the elite programs in the U.S. with an alumni base of more than 2,000 graduates. Kenneth R. White, Ph.D., FACHE, director of VCU’s M.H.A. program, is the inaugural Cardwell Professor.

• More than 600 donors helped the VCU Libraries meet its fundraising goal for the Campaign for the James Branch Cabell Library. The $400,000 in private gifts, including a $200,000 challenge grant from A Private Richmond Foundation, will supplement state funding to renovate the public areas on the fourth floor of Cabell Library. The renovation of the fourth floor, the first since 1975, is under way and progress can be tracked at www.library.vcu.edu. The project includes the creation of the John Mapp Graduate Study and Reading Room, which is the university’s first dedicated library space for gradu-ate students and faculty, as well as the expansion of storage space for the rare materials housed in Special Collections, and the restoration of the historic James Branch Cabell Room to its rightful place as a digni-fied meeting and retreat space.

The Campaign for the James Branch Cabell Library raised funds to renovate public areas on the fourth floor, expand storage space for Special Collections and create the first library study space for graduate students.

The on-campus, inner-city location for the youth center was key in the Fraizers’ decision to support the center.

“I can’t think of anything more important than providing disadvantaged youth with a place to come and learn and grow,” Michael Fraizer said. “It’s important to have the center on an urban campus, where children can aspire to succeed and see that they can go to a university and further their education.”

Currently, Lobs & Lessons has about 80 full-time participants from the William Byrd Community House, Sacred Heart Center and the North Richmond YMCA.

For more information about the Lobs & Lessons program, contact Kathleen Bowles, program director, at (804) 827-0802 or bowleskm@vcu.edu. To make a gift to the pro-gram, contact Thomas C. Burke, executive director of the VCU Foundation, at (804) 828-3958 or tcburke@vcu.edu.

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Dinner honors donors to Trani Scholars programIn December, Dianne and C. Kenneth

Wright made a $1 million gift to Virginia Commonwealth University to establish the Eugene P. Trani Scholars program. In January, members of the VCU community and some of the Wrights’ friends honored the couple at a dinner in the Scott House.

In remarks just before dinner, William H. Goodwin Jr., who serves with Kenneth Wright as a founding trustee of the School of Engineering Foundation Board, recalled some of his first meetings with the couple and their shared involvement with VCU. He added his appreciation to that expressed by Dr. Trani, VCU Board of Visitors member John Sherman and others.

Earlier that afternoon, a blue-ribbon scholarship selec-tion committee, made up of seven former members of the Board of Visitors, determined the criteria for the prestigious new award. Fueled by an additional $25,000 gift from the Wrights, the first Trani Scholar awards will be distributed this fall.

The inaugural recipients are: • Sarah M. Taylor, an incoming freshman who plans

to major in biology.

• Katherina Rienks, a rising sophomore majoring in criminal justice.

• Daniel P. Phillips, a rising junior majoring in nursing.

• Marquetta Brown, a rising senior majoring in sociology.

• Jonathan Hudley, a rising senior majoring in Mathematical Sciences.

To be considered, students must have demonstrated need and merit. Preference is given to applicants who are first-generation college students.

To make a gift to the Eugene P. Trani Scholars program, contact Anne Jacobson, associate vice president for University Advancement, at (804) 828-0767 or adjacobson@vcu.edu.

Did you know …• Dr.StevenGrant, associate director for translational research at the Virginia

Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and co-director of the can-cer cell biology program, and RichardRezba,Ph.D., director of VCU’s Center for Life Sciences Education, were recognized in January by Gov. Timothy Kaine. Grant was named one of the state’s Outstanding Scientists of 2007, and Rezba was honored with the Bev Orndorff Award for Exceptional Service to Public Understanding of Science.

• JohnRyan,Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biology, received a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to study the production and survival of mast cells, which are known to play a central role in asthma and allergy. The five-year grant will allow Ryan and his colleagues to study a key link in the body’s normal dampening of potentially dangerous immune responses to prevent chronic diseases such as asthma.

12 | The Power of Personal Philanthropy

A dinner at the VCU Scott House honors C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright.

William H. Goodwin Jr.

Rams give fans a 2006-07 season to rememberThe Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball team took this year'sNCAAMen’sBasketballTournamentbystorm,topplingperennialpowerhouseDukeUniversity in thefirstround.VCUPresidentEugeneP.Trani,Ph.D.,andagroupofVCUfriendstraveledtoBuffalo,N.Y.,toattendthegame.Beforetheactiononthecourt,membersoftheVCUBoardofVisitorsandco-chairsoftheCampaignforVCUandalumniTomandVickieSneadandRichmondMayorL.DouglasWilder joinedin a pre-game rally. Back in Richmond, the VCU Alumni Association organized a“watchparty”atBandito’sintheFan.TherestaurantwaspackedwithalumniandfriendswearinggoldshirtsandotherRamsparaphernalia.Theexcitement—andthecrowd—grewdayslaterwhenthegroupgatheredagainatBandito’stowatchastheRamschallengedtheUniversityofPittsburgh,takingthegameintoovertimebefore falling to the No. 3 seed 84-79. After a welcome home rally at the SiegelCenter,Dr.TranitoldNBC-12,“EverybodynowknowsaboutVCU,andthatgetstheminterested,andthentheycanfindoutaboutourgreatacademicprograms.Icouldn’taskforanythingmore.Inmy17thyearaspresident,thisisoneofthetwoorthreeproudestmomentsinmywholecareer.”

VCU donors and Rams enthusiasts Sidney A. Padow (left), Stuart C. Siegel Jr., who serves on the Board of Visitors, Joseph M. Teefey and John Jay Schwartz (B.S. ’69) share in the excitement in Buffalo, N.Y.

Alumnus Cullen Shelton watches the Rams play Duke University in the opening round of the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. Shelton was watch-ing the game at a party sponsored by the VCU Alumni Association.

Scott Secules, senior associate athletic director for external affairs, talks with Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder and VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., at the Buffalo, N.Y., reception.

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‘Dateline NBC’ correspondent headlines benefitAt this year’s Women & WellnessValentine Breakfast and Luncheon,Emmy award-winning journalist andRichmondnativeSaraJamessharedstories and lessons learned duringherexperiencesasa“DatelineNBC”correspondent and other assign-ments. The Feb. 6 events raisedmorethan$240,000forbreastcancerresearch. Event Chair Mary Blileyworked tirelessly to secure gener-ous sponsorships from the JenkinsFoundation,thePrivateBankofBankAmerica and more than 50 otherfriendsandsupporters.

YWCA honors VCU's Massey, Whitehurst-CookLongtime Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center volunteer BeckyMasseywasselectedasoneofthe2007YWCAOutstandingWomen.Massey,whowashonoredinthevolunteerismcategory,isadrivingforceforMassey’svolunteerleader-shipfundraisingteam,whichraisedmorethan$112.4millionforanewresearchlabora-toryand itsresearchteams. InMay2006,Masseycelebratedtheculminationof thatyears-longjourneyasshehelpedtoplanthededicationofthenewGoodwinResearchLaboratoryatMasseyandtheunveilingofBecky’sGarden,whichwasapersonallaborof love.Dr.MichelleWhitehurst-Cook,aVCUassociateprofessorof familymedicine,wasnamedtheYWCAOutstandingWomaninthehealth/sciencescategory.Cookprac-ticedmedicineinruralVirginiafor11yearsbeforejoiningtheVCUfacultyin1993.ShewasnamedassociatedeanofadmissionsintheSchoolofMedicinelastyear.

Graduates mix business with basketball victoryMorethan550SchoolofBusinessalumni and guests packed theSiegel Center’s auxiliary gymon Jan. 20 to celebrate VCUMeans Business! night. After areception featuring the VirginiaCommonwealth University pepband, cheerleaders, dance teamandRodneytheRam,thecrowdheaded to the Alltel Pavilion tocheer on the men’s basketballteaminits80-75victoryoverlong-timerivalOldDominionUniversity.The event was sponsored byDominion.

Attending as a guest of VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder shows off his T-shirt.

Dr. Gordon Ginder, director of the VCU Massey Cancer Center, congratulates “Dateline” correspondent and featured speaker Sara James and 2007 Women & Wellness Chair Mary Bliley on a successful event.

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Road trips strengthen alumni ties to med schoolTheVirginiaCommonwealthUniversitySchoolofMedicinesteppedupitstravelingschedule recently with its dean, Dr. Jerome F. Strauss III, hosting alumni recep-tionsonbothcoasts.Inthepastseveralmonths,receptionswereheldinRoanoke,Lynchburg,Delray,Fla.,andSanFrancisco.Drawingasmanyas50guestsinasingleevening,theeventsallowedthedeantosharehisvisionforthemedicalschoolwhilestrengthening ties between the school and its core constituency. Plans are underwayforfuturevisitsinPhiladelphiaandChicago.

Annual telethon raises money for kids in needThe third annual VirginiaCommonwealth UniversityChildren’s Medical CenterTelethon, held March 7 inconjunction with WTVRCBS-6 “For Kids Sake,”raised more than $81,000through the support ofcommunity members, busi-nesses and local govern-ments. Eight doctors andother medical profes-sionals fielded about 220calls offering pledges tohelp improve child healththrough research, educa-tion and state-of-the-artclinical care. A variety ofpatientstoriesandhealthcareprovider interviewshelpedshowcase themedical,surgicalandancillaryservicesthatVCUChildren’sprovidestothecommunity.VCUChildren’sisafull-servicepediatrichealthcarefacilitythatseesmorethan50,000childreneachyearandprovidesserviceregardlessofabilitytopay.AllofthemoneyraisedbythetelethonstaysintheRichmondcommunityandhelpsadvancepediat-ricclinicalcare,providesgroundbreakingresearchandtrainsthepediatriciansofthefuture.

Guests at a Miami meeting include Judy Seigel (left) and husband Paul Seigel (M.D. ’77), Joy Sanders, senior development officer with the medical school, Dr. Jerome F. Strauss III, Margaret Okonkwo (M.D. ’98) and Cathy Strauss.

A Delray, Fla., reception brings together Larry Levin (left) (M.D. ’81, Resident ’86), Bill Pintauro (M.D. ’81), Dr. Jerome F. Strauss III, David Saks (M.D. ’82) and Rick Rubenstein (M.D. ’81).

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Seated with his parents, Tony and Niki, young Antonio Carrington talks about coping with sickle cell anemia with CBS-6 anchor Julie Bragg.

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